Redwood confirmed as world’s tallest tree

Tree measures 378.1 feet — besting record holder by nearly nine feet

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A road runs through a tall redwood tree in this file photo from 1955. Officials would not disclose the location of Hyperion, the world's tallest tree, for fear that too many visitors could damage the delicate ecology of the California forest where it lives.

Humboldt State University Professor Steve Sillett told Reuters the record-setting tree, named Hyperion, is 379.1 feet tall, besting the previous record holder, the 370.5-foot-tall Stratosphere Giant.

Researchers exploring remote and rugged terrain this summer in the Redwood National and State Parks along California’s northernmost coast also discovered two other redwoods taller than the Stratosphere Giant, suggesting there had been many more massive ancient redwoods in the area, Sillett said.

Some of those taller trees may have fallen to loggers, while the remaining ones were saved by a logging ban when the Redwood National Park was expanded in 1978, Sillett said.

Officials would not pinpoint the exact locations of the trees out of concern that too many visitors could damage the delicate ecology of the mild, foggy slopes where the trees live

“What we have today is a few small remnants that suggest what these trees are capable of doing,” Sillett said.